Experimental validation of an ATM traffic control framework in the EXPLOIT testbed

This paper deals with the experimental investigation of a preventive traffic control framework for ATM networks as implemented in the EXPLOIT Testbed. This framework comprises a Usage Parameter Control (UPC) function and a Connection Admission Control (CAC) function. The obtained measurement results are complemented and compared with simulation studies and analytical results. For several On/Off traffic types it is shown that the implemented UPC function enforces both the Peak Cell Rate (PCR) and the Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR) simultaneously. By measuring the cell loss ratio as a function of the number of multiplexed sources, admission boundaries for a given network performance objective can be found and compared with the implemented CAC function based on the convolution algorithm. It appears that network performance objectives can be guaranteed, while exploiting most of the possible multiplexing gain in a network with small buffers like the EXPLOIT Testbed. Finally, it is shown that the two co-operating functions constitute a traffic control framework which is robust against traffic contract violations as well as worst case traffic utilising the contracted UPC function tolerances maximally at both the cell level and the burst level.